Tiger Woods credits Steve Stricker putting lesson for WGC win

When Tiger Woods took his 17th World Golf Championship trophy home on Sunday, he was quick to give credit to his good friend Steve Stricker for a putting lesson prior to the event.

Woods finished with a two-shot win to notch his 76th PGA TOUR victory, just six off the pace of Sam Snead’s once-untouchable 82. But Woods, who struggled throughout the event in other aspects of his game, found refuge with the flat stick and had his fewest putts for a 72-hole event in his career with 100. When speaking with the media after the win, he was quick to credit the world’s eighth ranked golfer.

“Thank you to Steve for the putting lesson,” Woods said at the trophy presentation. “It was one of those weeks where I felt pretty good about how I was playing, made a few putts and got it rolling.”

He wasn’t done there, either, he took to social media to thumb out his first tweet since Feb. 25:

Thx stricks for the great putting lesson, and congrats on 2nd 🙂 Great weekend at Doral all around. Thx for the support! See u in Orlando.

Woods has only tweeted 279 times in over two years, so you know he’s thankful.

The two met prior to Wednesday’s practice round when Woods, who had been working on his stroke at home, worked on his posture with Stricker for roughly 45 minutes and came away feeling as good as he has since his last win on TOUR at the Farmer’s Insurance Open in January.

The former world No. 1 and current second-ranked player were teammates in the Ryder Cup in 2012, and Woods credits Stricker for welcoming him to the tour when he first arrived in 1996. It’s not unusual for players to share tips with one another, and Woods went on to say that he felt he would have won even without the short lesson.

But there is still some intrigue here, especially given that Stricker finished second. Did he hurt his fellow competitors by making Tiger even better in a case where the rich get richer?

The answer to that is no, because a win for Woods is a win for the game and everyone on TOUR due to the dollars he brings. Woods is a major draw by himself when it comes to bringing fans to the game.